Premise
Premise and Key Concepts
There are some here who are new. Those who took an unwitting, unintended step, a footfall into an unknown from which they can't return. Maybe it was the doorway to a darkened room, a subterranean culvert, a mirror reflecting mirrors, or just a clear puddle in the rain. It could have happened anywhere, any time, an exceptional moment or an unremarkable one, and it brooked no warning. The Gate works one way, and for those new unfortunates-those "outlanders"-the world has become a foreign place.
There are some, as well, who've always been here. Who know no worlds but this-their own. Save for the occasional shock, most live and die secure in the surety to which they were born: humanity's singular eminence and dominion on the earth are a given. Outlanders are the stuff of dark fantastic tales, a fiction that doesn't exist. For those who've had cause to glimpse another truth, to learn that the world's natural law is a diaphanous veil kept pulled across the eyes, insanity is often the inevitable result. But there are a scant handful who know, who have gazed into the terrible abyss over which they walk and raised their heads and hands to steady those around them. Steady them, lest the whole world fall.
And then there are those-those others-for whom the passing of eons is like an eye's blink. Outer Gods and Great Old Ones, immense malevolent deities beyond the scope of comprehension, nightmare servitor races that dwell in the deep and secret places of the earth, their spawn too numerous to be imagined. These are beings meant not to be disturbed, and yet, perhaps called upon by the deranged and misguided, they are stirring. And if they are called up, they may not be put down.
Only the deranged, the lunatic, would call, but there are those that do. And maybe that's why you're here, Outlander-by accident, by chance, but for now with no way back. Maybe, if you're willing, you can help us. And we, in turn, can help you.
Premise
Mysterium Tremendum is a plot-heavy multi-fandom gothic sci-fi/horror game set in 1920's America and based on the lore and writings of H.P. Lovecraft and the Cthulhu Mythos which he, and others writing after him, created. With a focus on narrative and collective story-telling, we offer a variety of ways for characters to come into the game and a dynamic setting that will evolve over time as a result of character actions.
We have options for both OU and AU versions of fandom characters as well as the option to play OCs native to the game world.
Key Concepts
There are a few key concepts which inform this game. These aren't unique to Lovecraft's work per se. They come from the fields of theology and comparative religion, but they have been used to describe the genre of gothic horror. The atmosphere of Mysterium Tremendum is unlike the blood and gore horror genre where monsters jump out from dark corners to catch characters unawares. Understanding the following concepts will help players get a feel for the kind of atmosphere this game aims to invoke.
The Numinous
The mysterium tremendum is one aspect of the numinous, a term which describes some thing (an object, being, entity) that has the strong element of divinity, an absolute awe-inspiring religious or spiritual presence.
The Mysterium
Think of "mysterium" as an affective and somatic response to the presence of the divine and god-like. It is a mirror with two faces--on the one hand, alluring and fascinating (what is called the mysterium fascinosum)--and on the other, horrifying and overwhelming. It's the latter which is of particular concern to us here, though the former does perhaps explain the thrall in which those who worship the Outer Gods might be held.
The Mysterium Tremendum, or "Daemonic Dread"
The mysterium tremendum might be thought of as an experience of awe-fullness, a numinous dread which is absolute and absolutely unapproachable because of the enormity of its energy, power, and force. This isn't a matter of someone having or lacking enough physical strength to approach, but rather an affective experience of the unapproachability which characterizes the encounter with the wholly Other.
This experience of numinous dread is the sort that creates mental stupor, speechless amazement, one that makes the soul and every fiber of one's being tremble inwardly. In its face one finds their own smallness--their own nothingness and profanity--laid bare before them. This is the experience that characterizes encounters with the creatures of Lovecraft's mythos, and though not everyone will experience it in the same way, it marks a paradigm: "daemonic dread" is that which even slight brushes with the Great Old Ones and the Outer Gods provoke.
There are some here who are new. Those who took an unwitting, unintended step, a footfall into an unknown from which they can't return. Maybe it was the doorway to a darkened room, a subterranean culvert, a mirror reflecting mirrors, or just a clear puddle in the rain. It could have happened anywhere, any time, an exceptional moment or an unremarkable one, and it brooked no warning. The Gate works one way, and for those new unfortunates-those "outlanders"-the world has become a foreign place.
There are some, as well, who've always been here. Who know no worlds but this-their own. Save for the occasional shock, most live and die secure in the surety to which they were born: humanity's singular eminence and dominion on the earth are a given. Outlanders are the stuff of dark fantastic tales, a fiction that doesn't exist. For those who've had cause to glimpse another truth, to learn that the world's natural law is a diaphanous veil kept pulled across the eyes, insanity is often the inevitable result. But there are a scant handful who know, who have gazed into the terrible abyss over which they walk and raised their heads and hands to steady those around them. Steady them, lest the whole world fall.
And then there are those-those others-for whom the passing of eons is like an eye's blink. Outer Gods and Great Old Ones, immense malevolent deities beyond the scope of comprehension, nightmare servitor races that dwell in the deep and secret places of the earth, their spawn too numerous to be imagined. These are beings meant not to be disturbed, and yet, perhaps called upon by the deranged and misguided, they are stirring. And if they are called up, they may not be put down.
Only the deranged, the lunatic, would call, but there are those that do. And maybe that's why you're here, Outlander-by accident, by chance, but for now with no way back. Maybe, if you're willing, you can help us. And we, in turn, can help you.
Premise
Mysterium Tremendum is a plot-heavy multi-fandom gothic sci-fi/horror game set in 1920's America and based on the lore and writings of H.P. Lovecraft and the Cthulhu Mythos which he, and others writing after him, created. With a focus on narrative and collective story-telling, we offer a variety of ways for characters to come into the game and a dynamic setting that will evolve over time as a result of character actions.
We have options for both OU and AU versions of fandom characters as well as the option to play OCs native to the game world.
Key Concepts
There are a few key concepts which inform this game. These aren't unique to Lovecraft's work per se. They come from the fields of theology and comparative religion, but they have been used to describe the genre of gothic horror. The atmosphere of Mysterium Tremendum is unlike the blood and gore horror genre where monsters jump out from dark corners to catch characters unawares. Understanding the following concepts will help players get a feel for the kind of atmosphere this game aims to invoke.
The Numinous
The mysterium tremendum is one aspect of the numinous, a term which describes some thing (an object, being, entity) that has the strong element of divinity, an absolute awe-inspiring religious or spiritual presence.
The Mysterium
Think of "mysterium" as an affective and somatic response to the presence of the divine and god-like. It is a mirror with two faces--on the one hand, alluring and fascinating (what is called the mysterium fascinosum)--and on the other, horrifying and overwhelming. It's the latter which is of particular concern to us here, though the former does perhaps explain the thrall in which those who worship the Outer Gods might be held.
The Mysterium Tremendum, or "Daemonic Dread"
The mysterium tremendum might be thought of as an experience of awe-fullness, a numinous dread which is absolute and absolutely unapproachable because of the enormity of its energy, power, and force. This isn't a matter of someone having or lacking enough physical strength to approach, but rather an affective experience of the unapproachability which characterizes the encounter with the wholly Other.
This experience of numinous dread is the sort that creates mental stupor, speechless amazement, one that makes the soul and every fiber of one's being tremble inwardly. In its face one finds their own smallness--their own nothingness and profanity--laid bare before them. This is the experience that characterizes encounters with the creatures of Lovecraft's mythos, and though not everyone will experience it in the same way, it marks a paradigm: "daemonic dread" is that which even slight brushes with the Great Old Ones and the Outer Gods provoke.